Ceremony
by Skyward Princess of Time
Summary: The Knight Academy just had their graduation ceremony and Link's feeling a little left out. Post-SS, Zelink. Oneshot.


**A/N: I don't own the Legend of Zelda. If I did... xD  
**"**Ceremony" is rated "T" for romance and some minor adult themes.**

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_**Ceremony  
**__A Legend of Zelda Fanfiction_

Link sighed.

Zelda groaned and slapped her face in exasperation. Whether he was aware of it or not, Link kept giving one of those deep sighs about every thirty seconds. It was starting to get on Zelda's nerves. With a small sigh of her own, Zelda put down Link's undershirt that she was washing in the stream and made her way over to the young hero.

"Okay, tell me what's bothering you."

"Huh?" Link rubbed his eyes. Did that boy seriously just fall asleep sitting up? With Link, anything was possible. Honestly, it was hard to believe that he saved Skyloft and Hyrule. Not that Zelda doubted his bravery and skills, she was amazed he stayed awake long enough.

"You keep sighing. You only do that when something is bothering you."

Link frowned, biting the inside of his cheek and pouting, resting his head and arm on his legs. Zelda stifled a giggle. Link, despite now being twenty years old, could just look so childish sometimes.

"I received a letter from Groose yesterday," he mumbled into his arms.

"Oh?" Zelda returned to her washing. "And how are he and Peatrice doing?"

"They're fine," he continued to mumble, apparently still half-asleep. "He said something about always being tired because he and Peatrice-"

"Too many details, Link," Zelda cut him off gently, trying to erase the highly disturbing mental image from her mind. Hoo. She might have nightmares over that one.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah. I told Groose to stop being that in-depth, but he insisted that he was practicing his writing and…"

"Too many details, Link," Zelda repeated. She laughed lightly, bonking him gently on the head. No matter what he claimed, Link was a horrible multitasker. He put 1010% into everything, and when he was focused on sleep, well, he was focused on sleep.

Link shook his head, trying to wake himself up. "Sorry, I'm a bit distracted."

"I noticed."

Link pouted, sticking his tongue childishly at her before collapsing onto the soft grassy hill, staring straight up at the sky. Hyrule was particularly beautiful today, a pleasant breeze blowing from the southwest and the flowers in full bloom. Zelda resisted the urge to just screw the laundry and snuggle up next to her hero.

"Groose was telling me about the graduation ceremony," Link finally continued.

"Oh, that's right. Your knight class officially graduated this spring, didn't they?" Zelda frowned, trying to get a particularly stubborn grass stain out of Link's undershirt that he received from playing hide and seek with the Kikwis.

"Yeah," Link said. "Apparently all of Skyloft prepared for this event. It was a really big deal. There was lots of food, entertainment, dancing-"

Zelda chuckled. "Because we all know you're the world's greatest dancer, Link."

Link frowned, turning over on his side. "Shaddup," he grumbled. "That's not the point."

Zelda understood why the graduation ceremony was so big this year. Before he left on his adventure to save her from Demise, Link graduated to the next class of knights—but he didn't graduate from the Knight Academy. The way the demographics were in Skyloft, there was likely not to be another graduating knight class for ten years or so.

Zelda hadn't realized until recently just how small Skyloft was. To them, the graduation ceremony and the knights were everything that little town had. It was one of the major reasons she wanted to move down to the Surface. She wanted something bigger, something more.

That's when it came to her.

Link never officially graduated from the Academy, although all of Skyloft considered him to be a knight. During his time at the Academy, before the incident, Link was often looked down on and bullied by a bunch of the other kids. When they were kids, the ceremony was everything. Everyone looked forward to walking across the roof in front of the bell and taking their official knight sword from the Headmaster.

Zelda finally gave up on the grass stain—she'd tackle that little bugger later—and succumbed to her urge, lying beside Link and gently rubbing his back. She leaned over and kissed him gently on his cheek.

"You wanted to be a part of the ceremony," she said softly.

Link sighed, rolling back over on his back and stroking Zelda's cheek delicately. "It seems stupid," he admitted, his cheeks flushing red. "But as a kid, that was my biggest dream. I always looked forward to the ceremony. I used to have the craziest dreams of how the ceremony would go and how they'd announce my name 'SIR LINK' in a deep, important voice. Then, maybe those kids who picked on me would realize I was more than just a little orphan with his head in the clouds."

She smiled, taking his rough, calloused hands in her own and kissing them gently. "It is silly," she agreed. "It's just a silly little party. It's honestly quite boring. But at the same time, a ceremony may not seem like more than a glorified party, but it's what that ceremony stands for."

Link flicked Zelda gently on her forehead. "Jealous," he smirked. "Of course you hated that ceremony. You were dragged to it when you were a kid and forced to stand next to your dad for hours."

Zelda smacked him in retaliation. "That's not the point, I'm trying to console you here," she said defiantly collapsing on top of him and pinning him down mischievously. She laid on top of his chest, smiling and listening to the soft rhythm of his heartbeat.

"Oi, can't breathe," Link choked out obviously kidding although Zelda smacked him regardless ("Are you calling me fat?"). "That ceremony was my childhood dream. Do you have any idea of what it's like to have all of your dreams shattered and crashed?"

"Of course," Zelda teased, nuzzling him fondly. "As a matter of fact, most of my childhood dreams shattered and crashed when I was caught up in a massive black tornado and kidnapped by the Demon Sword of the incarnation of evil and found out I was actually the Goddess reborn."

"Touché," Link said, giving into the urge and kissing her fondly. "I guess my dreams shattered and crashed then too."

"Well?" Zelda asked with a mischievous glint in her eye, bringing out her inner gossipmonger. "Other than being in the graduation ceremony, what were your childhood dreams, Sir Link?"

"Sir Link," Link repeated softly. "I like the sound of that." He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her sweet scent of freshly washed laundry and lilyflowers. "Well," he said. "My dream was to be a great knight so I could protect the ones I love." "I always had visions," he added sheepishly, "of me flying around of my magnificent red bird and waving to the people. And of course, well, my other dream was always to be with you."

Zelda kissed him deeply at that last part, brushing stray blades of grass out of his honey-blond hair. Before she fell into the black tornado-well, everyone knew what happened after that—she really only had one dream. She was a simple girl. All she wanted was a life of happiness with her one true love, Link.

"I know your dream was to be with me," Link, as if he was reading her mind, affirmed proudly. He grinned up at her and allowed himself to get lost in her pearl blue eyes. Zelda kissed him, playing with the loose strands of his shirt and taking her free hand in his.

"Well," she said, her breath warm against her cheek, "If I recall, Skyloft gave you a hero's welcome for rescuing me. And, last time I checked, we're together, aren't we?"

"Maybe," he teased, bringing her closer for a passionate kiss.

"If that's the case," she placed a finger over his lips, smiling devilishly at his look of indignation. "It looks like maybe we did achieve our childhood dreams after all."

"Almost," Link said, taking her hand in his and kissing her passionately. "I never did get that ceremony."

Zelda groaned, pulling back and placing her hand on her hip. Link was the only man too thick-headed not to be distracted by a woman's passionate physical advances.

"What?" Link asked. "That ceremony was a big deal to me."

"You have everything you could ever want and you're still upset that you weren't involved in an overblown ceremony filled with pretentious idiots."

"Does that include your father?" Link asked, barely finishing his sentence before Zelda slapped him hard. He grumbled, rubbing his shoulder gently. He was starting to get a bruise there.

Zelda sighed. "You know that ceremony won't happen for another ten years or so, right?"

"Yeah." Link looked downcast.

Zelda tilted his head up so his huge, crystal blue eyes stared straight back up at hers. "If I promised you something better, would it cheer you up?" she asked in a soothing voice.

"Perhaps," he murmured into her chest. Zelda stroked his hair, laying her head gently on his.

"It's a deal, then."

* * *

"Zelda?" Link called, searching around the Sealed Grounds. He frowned. Where did she run off to now? Last night, after their, um, _tender _moment on the hill, she said something about getting up early to go to Faron Woods or something. He rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up as he almost tripped over a bucket in the middle of the temple. He opened his mouth to protest when he noticed a note attached to the bucket.

_Watch where you're going, dummy. Meet me in Faron Woods when the sun is at its highest point in the sky._

_-Z_

Link sighed. Zelda knew him a bit too well. It was kind of creepy, to be quite honest. 'The sun is at its highest point in the sky,' she says? At this time of year, the sun was at its highest around lunchtime which was…

…now.

Link cursed at his inability to get up at a proper time—how did he manage to save the world again?—quickly throwing on his freshly washed tunic that Zelda placed conveniently on the stool next to the bucket and whistling, whistling for his bird, Cerise. He normally walked the distance and Cerise wasn't the biggest fan of flying below the clouds, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He leapt on the bird, spurring his feathered friend on as Cerise dropped him at the entrance of the Faron Woods in only a matter of seconds.

"Zelda?" Link called, looking around the gate. He tentatively walked deeper into the woods, taking in the fresh scents of the forest and eyeing the beautiful greenery. Around him, baby birds attempted to fly high in the sky, their mothers watching them protectively from close by. The water was so clear that Link could see the schools of the rainbow colored fish swim through the lanes of sea plants. It was almost as if the fish were swimming in a certain pattern…as a matter of fact, a group of fish looked eerily like an arrow. Link squinted. Were they trying to lead him somewhere? Link grinned. Zelda wouldn't mind if he took a little detour. He breathed deeply and gracefully dove under the water, following the fish through an underwater passage he'd never seen before. The plankton, the fish, the plants—everything was beautiful and multicolored.

Finally, the fish motioned upwards and Link followed, leaping out of the water and on a small island in the middle of a hidden pond, masked by a gorgeous willow tree, branches hanging delicately over the lush grass and garden. Under the tree, Link noticed Zelda, dressed in her white Goddess dress, extending her hand to him. Link grinned, pulling his eyes away from nature's beauty and staring at the most beautiful of them all—his beloved Zelda. Zelda grinned, gently guiding his head to look side to side. Around her, the creatures of the Surface appeared, Mogma, Kikwi, and robots alike, smiling up at him. Behind the massive tree Faron appeared, leaning down close to the human couple.

"I, Faron, Guardian of these Woods, declare that you, Link, the Hero, have graduated from the Academy. You are hereby honored as not only a knight of Skyloft, but of Hyrule as well."

Well that was friendly. Link smiled, wondering how he'd have to pay for that later and smiled up at Eldin and Lanaryu who emerged from behind Faron. Faron nodded at the other two dragons, as the three suddenly erupted into a gorgeous song. Zelda grinned, offering Link her hand. Link tentatively took her delicate hand in his, allowing her to lead him through a slow, tender dance.

It may not be a lavish party with expensive food and loud music, but somehow, it was just as fulfilling. As a matter of fact…

"It's perfect," Link whispered into her ear, trying not to get too side-tracked or he'd step on her foot.

"Now we can move on from the past and enjoy the rest of our lives together," She murmured softly in his ears, laying her head against his chest. "After all," she added devilishly, "We are the only two humans on the Surface. We have to get to work on making sure humans on the Surface don't become extinct."

Link grinned, looking forward already to the night ahead. As he allowed himself to get lost in pure, peaceful bliss for a moment, a question began to nag him.

"Uh, Zel, about that…"

Zelda raised her eyebrow at him. She knew that tone of voice.

"I mean, I understand us having kids, but uh, if our kids are the only humans left on the Surface, how exactly are they going to-"

Zelda slapped him before he could finish.

She'd have to tell him the answer some time or another.

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**I hoped you enjoyed that little one-shot. :) My stories often reflect what's going on in my life, so I wanted to write a piece that commemorated my graduation from college, although my ceremony wasn't nearly as nice as Link's. My school didn't let me wear my tunic… :P**

**Please leave a review! It would fill my heart with unicorns and rainbows. :) I hope you enjoyed the story and I'll see you later!**


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